Bryan stood with his arms crossed, watching me, his face dripping with contempt. Hearing the other team members curse me out, he let a smirk curl across his lips and mouthed a single word in my direction.
"Pathetic."
…
I was driven back to my room. Lying on the bed, my phone buzzed with an incoming video.
Georgina lay curled in Bryan's arms, sleeping soundly. Red marks trailed along her neck, and a small cut split the corner of her lip.
Bryan had filmed it on purpose. For me.
But right now, jealousy was the least of my concerns. What I needed was a doctor.
The only doctor at the base was busy "attending to" Bryan, per Georgina's instructions.
She'd done it deliberately. She stood guard all night, refusing to let me anywhere near the infirmary. It wasn't until early the next morning that I finally got in to see the doctor.
"These fingers… I'm afraid the tissue is already dead from frostbite."
"We don't have the medical facilities here at the station. You need to get to a hospital for treatment as soon as possible."
Even though I'd already sensed it coming, hearing the doctor say it out loud made my stomach drop.
Getting from the polar station to a hospital was no simple feat. But nothing else mattered now.
I couldn't become disabled. I had to save my hands.
The first thing I did back in my room was send out a distress call. When the reply came through, I let out a breath of relief.
Headquarters would dispatch a helicopter. As long as I received treatment in time…
I stayed in my room the entire day. Only when the roar of helicopter blades cut through the air did I push open the door.
By the time I reached the landing site, two figures were already standing in front of the helicopter, about to climb aboard.
"We're the injured ones! Bryan is hurt—he needs to be taken to the hospital to recover, and I'm going with him!"
Georgina spotted me and didn't flinch. Her expression was ice cold. She rubbed her belly and tried to squeeze onto the helicopter.
"It can only carry two people at a time. I need to go to the hospital for a prenatal checkup."
"Humphrey, just wait for the next one."
When the next one would come, I had no idea.
Compared to being abandoned in that crevasse, this moment cut deeper.
I watched Georgina's retreating back, unyielding, and felt the cold spread through my chest.
"Georgina, I can't wait any longer. My hands—"
"Enough. Let's go."
Bryan draped his arm over her shoulder and, from behind his face mask, flashed me a mocking grin. He waved at me like a victor claiming his spoils, then signaled the pilot to take off.
The roar of the engine hammered against my eardrums. Just before liftoff, Georgina looked at me, her face full of disgust.
"Stop with the act. It makes me sick."
Rejection after rejection lit a fire in my gut.
Ignoring the laughter from the other team members, I gathered some documents and my belongings, then sent out another distress call.
This time, rescue finally came.
When I peeled away the gloves and the wrappings, exposing my fingers, the doctor sucked in a sharp breath and gave me a long look.
"Let's run some tests first."
The base had only done basic first aid. The three worst fingers had changed color, the tips blackened.
The results were not good.
The frostbite had damaged skin, muscle, and nerve tissue. The doctor's assessment was amputation.
"The frostbite has progressed to tissue necrosis. There's a high risk of infection going forward. We need to amputate as soon as possible."
"I'm sorry…"
Even though I'd expected it, the moment I heard the words, I froze where I stood.
After a long pause, I dragged a hand down my face.
"Fine. Let's schedule the surgery as soon as possible."
In my previous life, Georgina always said I owed Bryan my life. Maybe this was better. At least this time around, both of us got to keep ours.
That was what I told myself. But when I picked up the pen to sign the surgical consent form, my fingers still trembled.
Loving Georgina had cost too much.
It wasn't worth it.
While I sat there, lost in thought, a commotion from the next room snapped me back. Raised voices, arguing. And then a voice I knew all too well.
